David Warner is a hard man to keep quiet. If his bat isn't doing the talking his mouth probably is, and either way you can expect an assertive approach. One of the most destructive hitters in world cricket, Warner opens for Australia in all three formats and in 2015 his seniority was recognised when he was named vice-captain to Steven Smith in the Test and ODI sides. It was quite a turnaround for the man who two years earlier had been suspended by Cricket Australia for punching England's Joe Root in a bar-room altercation in Birmingham, and had also been warned over a Twitter spat with a pair of journalists. It also completed a remarkable rise for a man who burst on to the international scene in 2008-09 as a Twenty20 specialist; he was the first man since 1877 to debut for Australia before playing first-class cricket. His breathtaking 89 from 43 balls on debut against South Africa told the world of his talent, but few at the time expected him to become a key Test player as well.

His debut in the baggy green came, appropriately, in Test match No.2020, against New Zealand at the Gabba in 2011, and in his second match he achieved what Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden never did - he carried his bat through a Test innings. His unbeaten 123 in Hobart could not prevent a historic New Zealand win, but his patience in challenging conditions showed a different side to his batsmanship. Later in the same summer he made a very different kind of hundred, a 69-ball ton against India at the WACA that turned into a career-best 180. Over the next few years he became one of the most productive performers in Australia's Test order, and in 2014 he scored twin hundreds in the Cape Town Test against South Africa and then repeated the feat in Adelaide against India, in what was an especially emotional match as Australia returned to cricket following the death of Phillip Hughes. In one-day cricket Warner initially struggled to find the right tempo, but he was part of Australia's triumphant side in 2015 and made 45 against New Zealand in the final.
Brydon Coverdale

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